Tony and Carol Reynolds stand in front of an oak tree near Pentecostals of Russellville’s facility on Marina Road. The tree has taken on symbolic meaning for the congregation during the couple’s 30 years of service.

As his congregation at Pentecostals of Russellville prepares to mark he and his wife’s 30th year with the church, pastor Tony Reynolds has been doing a lot of reflecting lately.

He was first elected pastor of the congregation, which was formerly located on State Highway 7T and Jimmy Lile Road, on Sept. 10, 1981. The congregation, which now meets at 1505 Marina Road, will celebrate the anniversary at 7:30 p.m. Friday with guest speaker Jerry Dean of Bossier City, La., and a Homecoming celebration at 10 a.m. Sept. 25.

Reynolds recalls the director of the congregation’s Sunday School, Lanny Talbert, telling him about a dream he had sometime in the 1980s.

“He had a dream where he saw a little tree in a forest,” Reynolds said. “He said he watched that tree and it grew up taller than all the other trees. He said the Lord let him know that was our church. He said he saw it would grow. I tell you, not long after that we started growing.”

In 1997, the congregation moved from its 4,000 square-foot facility to its current 21,000 square-foot facility. While the church was constructing the building, a nearby resident requested a large oak tree be untouched. Honoring the request, Reynolds eventually realized the significance of the tree in relation to Talbert’s dream.

“There were times when I wished we would have cut it, but we left it,” Reynolds said. “We got to thinking about Lanny’s dream and how it came to fruition. So we adopted the tree as our living motto. ‘Growing deep and branching out’ is now our church motto.”

Reynolds and his wife, Carol, have been a permanent fixture with the church since 1981, watching the congregation grow from about 25 members to a group that required a building capable of seating 500. The church’s rapid growth in the late 1980s led to an invitation to a national convention in New Orleans.

“Our church started growing so fast in 1988 and in 1990 I was invited by our national organization to speak at our national conference,” Reynolds said. “They have seven pastors nationwide speak for seven minutes, but it was revival churches that were really taking off. It was at the Super Dome in New Orleans in front of 20,000 people and I was coming from a congregation with a 4,000 square foot building. To say my knees were knocking would be quite an understatement.”

Reynolds said he especially enjoys the opportunity to interact with people. He conservatively estimates 1,500 people have spent time in the congregation in his time there.

“You get involved in so many people’s lives,” Reynolds said. “Some of these kids were born in our church and now they’re having kids. I love just interacting with the people. We’ve seen them grow. ... Ministering to people and interacting with people has kept me in this position. I’m a people person. I love people. I’ve got files of funerals I’ve done. You get so connected through weddings and funerals and baby dedications.”

“Third generations are coming on,” Carol added. “It’s very interesting to see the couples who had children when we came here, and now those children’s children are having babies. It just really makes you think ‘Where did the time go?’”

Reynolds said he enjoys having the opportunity to preach, though he sees the position as being one that is on call constantly.

“I think preaching is another favorite aspect,” Reynolds said. “There are teachers and preachers. I’m a preacher. I like preaching to our people. I like to think of myself as a true shepherd. I give my cell phone number to everybody. They have access to me 24/7. I like that. That’s what I built our ministry on.”

“Now that the congregation is a little bigger, it’s more challenging,” Carol added.

One of his fondest memories is raising his two children — Josh Reynolds and Tina Talbert — in the church, he said. Both are still active in church.

“We raised both of our children in this church. My son was two when we moved here, and he’s 32 now,” Reynolds said. “He’s gone on to be a family pastor at the Christian Life center in a 1,600 congregation in Austin. My daughter was 6 when we came and is still working in the church. Her husband is Kevin Talbert, our youth minister.”

Reynolds said the most challenging aspect of his job is staying relevant in an ever-changing world.

“To do that, I try to attend a lot of conferences, a lot of training conferences,” Reynolds said. “I’m getting ready to go to a national conference next month. I do a lot of reading. I really strive to stay relevant.”

Though he notes Stephen Davis, longtime minister at First Baptist Church in Russellville, retired after 30 years, Reynolds said he intends to continue his work at the church for a while longer.